Background: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are involved in the innate immune response. We examined whether TLR variants are associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection among women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).
Methods: We tested whether 18 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) assayed in 4 TLR genes (TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR6) and 2 adaptor molecules (TIRAP, MyD88) were associated with C. trachomatis among 205 African American women with clinically suspected PID from the PID Evaluation and Clinical Health Study. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). An empirical P value of <.004 was considered significant.
Results: Women with PID who carried the TLR4 rs1927911 CC genotype had significantly increased odds of C. trachomatis (OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.6-8.8; P = .002). The TLR1 rs5743618TT genotype was also associated with C. trachomatis (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-6.2; P = .008).
Conclusions: Among African American women with PID, variants in the TLR1 and TLR4 genes, which may increase signaling, were associated with increased C. trachomatis infection.